The contributors to this book pursue three important lines of inquiry into parable study, in order to compare how these lessons have been received throughout the millennia. By considering not only the historical and material world of the parables' composition, and focusing on the social, political, economic, and material reality of that world, the contributors seek to connect how the parables may have been seen and heard in ancient contexts with how they have been, and continue to be, seen and heard.

Following these three lines, while also debating and diverging from opposing arguments, these essays explore numerous contexts, encounters and responses. Examining topics ranging from ancient harvest imagery and dependency relations to contemporary experience with the narratives and lessons of the parables, this volume seeks to link those very real ancient contexts with our own varied modern contexts.